AIM Finally Returns the Favor

AOL Instant Messenger finally made the change this July with a new beta for both Windows and Macs that began a move beyond simple IMs. Now, users can view their Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as AIM buddy updates and feeds from other services.

The problem was always that the Facebook and Twitter feeds only travelled one way. Updates couldbe read, but they couldn’t be sent from AIM to other services. People with an AIM account can set their preferences to use AIM status as updates in Facebook and Twitter as well. There’s also a fairly unpredictable feature that offers a way to comment or respond to friends’ messages.

This move has morphed AIM into a full-fledged Twitter/Facebook client. his is a big deal for AIM, as it can now be used as both a private and public IM client. TweetDeck, Seesmic and their fellows already have two-way messaging capabilities with Twitter and Facebook, while Yahoo! messenger and Windows Live Messenger are still strictly read only.

AIM seems to be making the right moves if they intend to keep up in the slow transfer of communication clients to being all-inclusive. Courtesy of techcrunch.com